“Traffic police just takes ‘hafta’ at every naka from Matador Drivers”

Jammu, 17 May: In a road accident at Talab Tillo yesterday, Janvi Gupta D\O Naresh Gupta was hit by a speeding Matador. The girl along with her brother just got off their school, and while they were crossing the road the matador hit them. Both of them were taken to the GMC, Bakshi Nagar but Doctors declared the girl brought dead.

Today morning the locals at Talab Tillo blocked Canal Road and for an hour and threatened to raise the intensity of their protests if the administration did not do something to cure the problems in Talab Tillo Area.

One Vicky Gupta, representing the group of protesters said, “The locals of Talab Tillo have time and again appealed to authorities to improve the situation on Canal Road. There are no speed breakers on the road which are an incentive for these already rash matador drivers to go berserk on the road. There are no passenger sheds and the sides are encroached by the vendors which leaves very little space for the traffic to move always causing jams. In such conditions accidents keep happening everyday.”

He further alleged, “The traffic cops only catch people without helmets and do nothing else. There are so many matador drivers who do not even have licences or permits to drive but no one checks them. It is only at the time of an accident like this when things like these pop up. The traffic cops set up nakas (check points) and take hafta (bribe) from these matador drivers without licences.”